USW joins Wallace & Gromit to help find the audience of the future

26-04-2019

Jason Veal of Sugar Creative, David Sproxton of Aardman, Chris Skidmore MP , Minister for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, Susan Cummings of Tiny Rebel Games, and Scott Ewings of Potato London, together with “lifesize” models of Wallace and Gromit, at Aardman in Bristol.

They have conquered the moon, vanquished evil penguins, and
foiled plots to steal sheep.

Now, Wallace & Gromit, who are celebrating their 30th
anniversary this year, are about to bring their fans directly into their
adventures via an incredible, first of its kind, story-driven experience that
promises to bring together these much-loved, globally iconic characters and
state-of-the-art storytelling.

The new immersive experience will be rich and multi-layered,
realised through innovation and technology, bringing Wallace & Gromit alive
in an entirely new way, while also creating a new platform for storytelling for
the audience of the future.

The ambitious plan includes a multi-month campaign leading
into a groundbreaking location-based multi-user augmented reality experience in
2020.

Chosen by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as part of the
Audience of the Future programme, which is a key part of the Government’s
Creative Industries Sector Deal announced in March 2018, the consortium has
been awarded a multi-million-pound R&D grant to explore and pioneer
cutting-edge immersive experiences. And now, working hand-in-hand with Aardman,
they will bring a brand-new adventure in the lives of Wallace & Gromit.

Sean Clarke, Executive Director, Rights and Brand
Development, Aardman said: “Aardman is a business built on great storytelling
and creative ambition.

"We are delighted to partner with this bold project,
developing brand new Wallace & Gromit content that can be interacted with
on many levels. We are sure this will delight and engage fans, offer a unique
experience and maintain Wallace & Gromit’s reputation as pioneers of
technology.”

Susan Cummings, founder of Tiny Rebel Games and member of
the consortium said, “We feel the future of immersive experiences lies in being
able to weave a story together using a variety of media and experiences.

"At the core will be an engaging narrative, created in
partnership with the incredibly creative team at Aardman, which will appeal to
Wallace & Gromit fans of all ages. Around this core, we will use both
cutting edge and traditional techniques to enable storytelling and allow people
to engage with an evolving narrative.

"These may include immersive technologies such as
augmented reality, mixed reality and haptics as well as live theatrical
production, websites, social media channels and even comic books and audio
adventures.”

UKRI Challenge Director for Audience of the Future, Prof
Andrew Chitty, said: “It’s fantastic that we complete our line-up of audience
facing demonstrators with this hugely ambitious collaboration between Tiny
Rebel Games, Potato, Sugar Creative, University of South Wales and the creators
of Wallace and Gromit.

“Their aim to revolutionise Augmented Reality gaming along
with the advances in AI, haptics, audience interaction and film production
technologies from our other competition winners means the public will be able
to try out some truly groundbreaking experiences over the next 18 months.”